Sheet metal tamperproof container



Patented Dec. 28, 1943 SHEET METAL TAMPERPROOF CONTAINER Frank J.OBrien, Pelham, N. Y., assigner to Continental Can Company, Inc., NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 21, 1940, SerialNo. 341,751

4 Claims.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in containers forfood products, and more particularly to a container which is renderedtamper-proof by means of a frangible sealing disk which has to bedestroyed and ruptured in order to gain access to the contents of thecontainer.

An object of the invention is to provide a container of the above typewherein a frangible sealing disk is permanently .attached to a carrierring adapted to be inserted in the neck of the container as a unit, andthen seamed to the neck of the container, so that the carrier ring ispermanently connected to said neck.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container having acarrier ring of the `above type wherein the connection between thecarrier ring and the neck is such as to permit a cover to befrictionally attached thereto for protecting said sealing disk.

These and other objects will in part be obvious and will in part behereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a View partly in vertical section and partlyin side elevation through the upper portion of a container embodying theimprovements;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of the carrierring with the frangible sealing disk .attached thereto as a unit;

Fig. 3 is a view showing the carrier ring inserted in the neck portion-of a container preparatory to the seaming of the two together;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing a slightly modified form ofcarrier ring and attaching means for joining to the neck of thecontainer, and

Fig. 5 is a view showing the carrier ring as illustrated in Figure 4attached to the neck portion of the container and a friction pluginserted for protecting the frangible sealing disk.

The container to which the invention is applied comprises a body portionhaving a bottom end seamed thereto, and also having a top end seamed tothe body portion. The top end has an opening for filling the containerand for dispensing the contents thereof. The top end is bent upwardly atthe opening therethrough to form a neck portion. As a means for closingthe neck portion of the container, a carrier ring is provided, whichcarrier ring ts snugly within the neck portion. This carrier ring has abeaded portion adjacent the lower end thereof formingr a seat for afrangible sealing disk. The frangible sealing disk is placed against thelower face of the seat, and the lower edge portion of the carriery ringis folded down on to the frangible sealing disk for clamping the samefirmly against the seat. Thus it is that the carrier ring and frangiblesealing disk are attached together as a unit. While the carrier ring maybe `attached to the neck portion formed in the end and then the endattached to the container body, it is preferred to .attach the end tothe container body and then fill the container through the op'en neck,after which the carrier ring is inserted in said neck portion and ispermanently joinedthereto by rolling the upper portion of the neck andthe upper portion of the carrier ring into a seam;

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the improved container includesa body portion l to which the lower end is secured by double-searning inthe usual way. Attached to the upper end of the body portion is acontainer end 2 which is secured to the body portion by a double seam 3.This container end 2 has an opening Il which may be placed centrally ofthe end or disposed eccentric thereto, as shown in the drawing.lSurrounding this opening 4 is an upstanding neck portion 5 which, asshown in Figures 1 and 3, is beaded inwardly adjacent the base of theneck, and this inwardly beaded portion is attened so as to provide aseat as indicated at 6 in thedrawing. The container is preferably lledthrough this neck portion, after which it is cl-oseduby a closure unitwhich includes a carrier ring having a frangible sealing disk attachedthereto. l This carrier ring` and attached sealing disk is shown inFigure 2. The carrier ring is indicatedat 1.

The carrier ring is beaded inwardly adjacent its lower end asA indicatedat 8. This bead' is flattened `and thus a seat 9 is formed for thefrangible sealing disk I0. After rthe rangible sealing disk i0 is placedagainst the seat, the lower edge portion H of the carrier ring isattened down against said frangible sealing disk, thus clamping thesealing disk against the seat. Any suitable sealing material may be usedfor forming an hermetic seal between the frangible sealingidisk and thecarrier ring, if desired.

The carrier ring and sealing disk unit thus formed is placed in thecontainer neck, as shown in Figure 3, after the container is lled. Thecarrier ring is dimensioned so that it snugly er1- gages the inner wallof the neck portion 5. The two upstanding walls, one the neck portionofthe container and the otherl the carrier ring, are preferably rolledinwardly as indicated at i2, in order to seam together, and thuspermanently attach'the carrier ring and the neck of theconvtainer. Hereagain, a suitable sealing composition may be used between the neckportion and the carrier ring for making an hermetically sealed joint.This permanently closes the container so that access to the containercan'be easily had by rupturing the sealing disk lli. If, however, thesealing disk I0 is ruptured so that the contents of theA container ismade available, this is made apparent, and therefore, thcontainer isreferred to as a tamper-proof container.

In order to protect the sealing disk during shipment, and prevent dustand dirt from collecting thereon, a cover is provided. The cover asshown in Figure l, has a depending skirt I4 rolled into a bead at itslower end for stiffening the same. This skirt is so dimensioned that itmakes tight frictional engagement with the outer wall of the neckportion. When it is desired to remove said cover, any availableimplement may be placed over the double seam and underneath the bead atthe lower end of the cover skirt for prying off said cover.

In Figures 4 and 5, a slightly modified form of neck and carrier ringconstruction is shown. In this form of the invention, the neck 5 of thecontainer is formed integral with the container end 2 and is ofsubstantially uniform diameter from the lower portion thereof to theupper end where said neck portion is turned outward to form a flange It.The carrier ring 'I is provided with a bead 8 forming a seat 9 for thefrangible sealing disk It, and the lower edge portion il of the carrierring is folded back on to the frangible sealing disk for clamping thesame tightly against the seat 9 in the same manner as shown in Figure 2.A sealing composition may be used for making an hermetic joint betweenthe frangible sealing disk and the carrier ring 'i'. The carrier ring atits upper end is turned outwardly into a flange I6 which at i'ts outerend is curled downwardly as indicated at Il. A suitable sealingcomposition is placed in the channel formed by this flange it with thedownwardly curled edge I1.

The container is filled through the neck opening, and then the carrierring, which again is a unit of itself, is placed in the neck portion andis so dimensioned that the outer face of the carrier ring makes tightcontact with the inner face of the neck portion. A seaming chuck can beinserted in the neck portion and seaming rolls applied for rolling theflanges i5 and I6 into a double seam as indicated at I8 in Figure 5 ofthe drawing. This will permanently attach the carrier ring to thecontainer and hermetically seal the same. In order to protect thefrangible sealing disk I8, a friction plug I9 is provided which isdimensioned so as to nt within the carrier ring and make frictionalcontact therewith at 29. Said friction plug has an outwardly projectingflange 2| which overlies the double seam i8, and the outer edge portionof this flange 2l is rolled downwardh7 into a curl. This will facilitatethe prying out of the friction plug by inserting a tool between thedouble seam it and the downwardly curled edge portion of the frictionplug.

While the frangible sealing disk is shown as attached to the carrierring by forming a bead in the carrier ring and collapsing the same toprovide a seat, and then by folding the metal down to clamp the metalseal against the lower face of the seat, it will be understood thatother ways of attaching the frangible seal to the carrier ring may beprovided without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forthin the appended claims. rThe essential feature of the invention residesin the providing of a carrier ring to which a sealing disk is attachedas a unit, and then the joining of the carrier ring to the neck portionon the container end by a seaming operation, so that the carrier ring ispermanently connected to the container end. This makes a very tightlysealed container so that access to the contents of the container canonly be had by rupturing the frangible seal. This insures that thecontents of the container cannot be tampered with without leaving ampleproof that the container has been opened.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A container comprising a body portion, an end searned thereto, saidend having an upstanding neck surrounding a iilling and dispensingopening, a carrier ring adapted to be inserted in said neck and makeContact therewith, said carrier ring at the lower portion thereof havingan inwardly projecting bead forming a seat, a frangibie sealing diskengaging the under face of said seat, the lower portion of said carrierring below said seat being folded back upon the frangible sealing diskfor tightly clamping the same against said seat, said neck having aninwardly projecting portion forming a seat for the carrier ring, saidneck and carrier ring at the upper portions thereof being rolledinwardly into a seam for permanently securing the ring to the neck, andan outside slip friction cover for closing the neck and protecting saidfrangible sealing disk.

2. A container comprising a body portion, an end seamed thereto, saidend having an upstanding neck surrounding a filling and dispensingopening, a carrier ring adapted to be inserted in said neck and makecontact therewith, said carrier ring at the lower portion thereof havingan inwardly projecting lbead forming a seat, a frangible sealing diskengaging the under face of said seat, the lower portion of said carrierring below said seat being folded back upon the frangible sealing diskfor tightly clamping the Same against said seat, said neck having anoutwardly projecting flange at the upper end thereof, said carrier ringhaving an outwardly projecting flange at the upper end thereof, saidflanges being rolled into a seam for permanently securing the ring tothe neck, and a friction plug adapted to engage within said carrier ringfor protecting the frangible sealing disk.

3. A container comprising a body portion, an end seamed thereto, saidend having an upstanding neck surrounding a lling and dispensingopening, a carrier ring adapted to be inserted in said neck and makecontact therewith, said carrier ing at the lower portion thereof havinga frangible sealing disk permanently secured thereto, said neck havingan inwardly projecting portion forming a seat for the carrier ring, saidneck *i and carrier ring at the upper portions thereof being rolledinwardly into a seam for permanently securing the ring to the neck andan outside slip friction cover for closing the neck and protecting saidfrangible sealing disk.

4i. A container comprising a body portion, an end seamed thereto, saidend having an upstanding neck portion surrounding a filling anddispensing opening, a carrier ring adapted to be inserted in said neckand make contact therewith, said carrier ring at the lower portionthereof having a frangible sealing disk permanently secured thereto,said neck portion being dimensioned so as to project above the seamjoining the end to the body portion and having the upper portion thereofjoined to the upper portion of the carrier ring by rolling the partsinto a seam, and a friction cover for closing the neck and protectingthe frangible sealing disk.

FRANK J. OBRIEN.

